Ronald Koeman

[serghei]

Xavi has 0 incentive of going to another club to 'prove' himself. He's already been offered the Barca job by Bartomeu and Font. He knows that if he waits patiently, he'll get it sooner or later, especially if Koeman is sacked.

Which is pretty bad tbh. It feels like Xavi is already at the top of the list of successors. He's not had to fight (managerially) to get there and proven to be the best candidate by showing what he's achieved. He's rather there thanks to his playing career and people hoping he'll turn out to be the next Pep.

Zidane was the same. Your skills matter a whole lot more than anything else. Former legends are always a great source for the next batch of elite managers.

 

[Vilarrubi]

What Xavi would do with a mid table La Liga club has little to no relevance what he would do at Barca.

Pep, Lucho, Zidane have 6 CL’s (Two trebles) and many other trophies between them despite only coaching at B team level/Roma and Celta Vigo.

 

[Messi983]

Xavi has 0 incentive of going to another club to 'prove' himself. He's already been offered the Barca job by Bartomeu and Font. He knows that if he waits patiently, he'll get it sooner or later, especially if Koeman is sacked.

Which is pretty bad tbh. It feels like Xavi is already at the top of the list of successors. He's not had to fight (managerially) to get there and proven to be the best candidate by showing what he's achieved. He's rather there thanks to his playing career and people hoping he'll turn out to be the next Pep.

Agreed.

It's not really that much about "proving" himself from my perspective. He'll get a chance here regardless of how he'll do elsewehere previously in his coaching career and I'll also support him when his time will come but I'd prefer him returning with as much coaching experience on a higher level as he can get.

But as explained before I don't think there are any interesting options open for him in La Liga (both from Xavi's and clubs's perspective) and I don't see him going to another top 5 league. AFAIK he doesn't speak German nor French so unlikely he'll go there though I think a club like Gladbach could be good for him and they've apparently shown interest in Xabi Alonso so might take Xavi as well. Can also replace Nagelsmann if he comes here.

Or he could just go to Tottenham and send Mou into retirement home.

 

[Joan]

Zidane was the same. Your skills matter a whole lot more than anything else. Former legends are always a great source for the next batch of elite managers.

How was Zidane the same? Zidane started as an advisor under Mourinho, promoted into a sporting director from 2011 to 2013, and was later Ancelotti's assistant coach. In between the jobs, spent a year and a half coaching Castilla during Benitez' term.

Zidane worked closely with the worlds' best managers and in the big locker room before taking the job. There's a difference, imo. Would've been better for Xavi if he came as Koeman's assistant, too.

Sure none of it has to be the deciding factor, but is worth paying attention to.

 

[Barcaman]

What Xavi would do with a mid table La Liga club has little to no relevance what he would do at Barca.

Pep, Lucho, Zidane have 6 CL?s (Two trebles) and many other trophies between them despite only coaching at B team level/Roma and Celta Vigo.

Just goes to show how overrated that job is.

 

[malvolio]

Thirdly, the football never looked this promising in seasons.

1. the perception about the football currently played is greatly amplified by the shaky/poor start of the season
2. promising as in with more enthusiasm and the fact that there are young players coming through? then yes. but from a quality or results perspective we are just about the same.
3. we still don't know what is the playing style and tactics involved. we changed the system 3 times this season and we still are not closer to a certain one being the default
4. we still get stuffed in the CL, not to mention losing to almost any stronger or comparable team

so all in all, from a football perspective, don't think we would lose that much by changing manager again this summer.

 

[serghei]

How was Zidane the same? Zidane started as an advisor under Mourinho, promoted into a sporting director from 2011 to 2013, and was later Ancelotti's assistant coach. In between the jobs, spent a year and a half coaching Castilla during Benitez' term.

Zidane worked closely with the worlds' best managers and in the big locker room before taking the job. There's a difference, imo. Would've been better for Xavi if he came as Koeman's assistant, too.

Sure none of it has to be the deciding factor, but is worth paying attention to.

I was speaking about experience as a main manager. Close to zero before being appointed. Xavi was also the brain of the best football team under one of the best modern managers, so he had some of the best managers to learn from in his illustrious career. So, if you say Zidane being an assistant managers a lot, I can say that Xavi being the brain of Pep's Barca matters a lot too.

How can Xavi come as an assistant under Koeman lol? Would be completely useless. Plus that I've never seen an assistant manager that declined the role of main manager at the same team.

 

[Joan]

I was speaking about experience as a main manager. Close to zero before being appointed. Xavi was also the brain of the best football team under one of the best modern managers, so he had some of the best managers to learn from in his illustrious career. So, if you say Zidane being an assistant matters a lot, I can say that Xavi being the brain of Pep's Barca matters a lot too.

Of course it matters. If he wasn't the brain of Pep's Barca, we'd never consider a manager with zero experience outside of the Q-league as our next head coach. That said, being an assistant would add to his managerial experience and boost his case. A supplement to his experience as a player.

 

[serghei]

Of course it matters. If he wasn't the brain of Pep's Barca, we'd never consider a manager with zero experience outside of the Q-league as our next head coach. That said, being an assistant would add to his managerial experience and boost his case. A supplement to his experience as a player.

Yea, it's not clear anyway. Maybe if you had an elite manager at Barcelona, like Guardiola, possibly. But no way under Koeman.

 

[mc_lovin]

The only things that matter are his actual methods, communications skills and so on. Pretty much nothing we - as fans - can judge. There was a clip of him in the Al Sadd dressing room, where I liked his demeanor (very Pep like), but thats pretty much it.

We will see how this season ends. I am surprisingly indifferent to Koeman staying or leaving (as of now). Theres a good case for both.

 

[Joan]

Yea, it's not clear anyway. Maybe if you had an elite manager at Barcelona, like Guardiola, possibly. But no way under Koeman.

Plenty to being a manager that doesn't meet the eye. More than the stereotypical attributes of elite managers. Firstly, he'd work with the big locker room, star players he'll work with in the future. Completely different from what he's got in the Q-league. Secondly, football's evolving and changing. At a significantly higher rate at top clubs in top leagues like Barca. Thirdly, he'd get to know the club from within and would ease his transition.

He's beating the dead horse in Qatar working in the league which might not even follow modern trends.

Don't think being Koeman's assistant is the best choice, but certainly the better one.

 

[serghei]

Plenty to being a manager that doesn't meet the eye. More than the stereotypical attributes of elite managers. Firstly, he'd work with the big locker room, star players he'll work with in the future. Completely different from what he's got in the Q-league. Secondly, football's evolving and changing. At a significantly higher rate at top clubs in top leagues like Barca. Thirdly, he'd get to know the club from within and would ease his transition.

He's beating the dead horse in Qatar working in the league which might not even follow modern trends.

Don't think being Koeman's assistant is the best choice, but certainly the better one.

This is the most common way, but not the only way. If Xavi is gonna make it, it will be a direct straight hit, like Guardiola was imo.

 

[Joan]

Xavi is probably too "proud" to go to a midtable La Liga team. OTOH there are also no clear jobs waiting for him right now.

So it's easy to say he should get La Liga experience but much harder to find the right club who would believe in Xavi as a coach enough to give him a chance knowing he'll most likely be there just for a season or two at most before he'll inevitable go to Barca. Unless he'd flop there hardly which would make Barca reconsider hiring him but obviously the club that would employ him wouldn't really want to see that.

Good post. If you go club by club, it does look grim. But there are always changes in coaching positions at various clubs hard to predict now. For instance, Celta fired Garcia in November and Coudet does well enough with them, but wouldn't be surprised they moved on in the summer.

Think the main issue with Xavi is that he doesn't even want some other job before coming to Barca. He'll get his chance sooner or later, but I'd prefer him to come with more experience. Would be better both for him and Barca.

 

[Joan]

This is the most common way, but not the only way. If Xavi is gonna make it, it will be a direct straight hit, like Guardiola was imo.

I'm not saying he won't make it, but experience rarely harms your case. Especially in Xavi's case since he'll get the job sooner or later. Little things you learn along the way can help and save you in important moments, no matter how talented you are. I'd rather he tested his ideas somewhere else in Europe first, but as the maestro used to say, it's what it is.

 

[serghei]

I'm not saying he won't make it, but experience rarely harms your case. Especially in Xavi's case since he'll get the job sooner or later. Little things you learn along the way can help and save you in important moments, no matter how talented you are. I'd rather he tested his ideas somewhere else in Europe first, but as the maestro used to say, it's what it is.

It can harm your case. Imagine Guardiola got to some Levante-like team instead of Barca, and they ended up playing like Paco Jemez Vallecano, conceding 5-6 goals a game because they can't grasp the concepts.

The stuff Guardiola plays even makes players like Walker, Laporte look like clowns. Imagine the errors those Levante-like defenders would make. There's a chance Pep wouldn't have made it big if he wasn't trusted early full-on. If he wasn't given the proper talent to put those bold ideas in action.

What you say is the most common path. Percentage-wise. But some cases stray away from the norm and you have to spot them, and this is where the genius of high-level management is.

With Xavi, there are numerous hints imo, that he will be a hit.